Bork!Bork!Bork! The curse of Bork is no respecter of status or class. It does not differentiate between a high-flying executive and a lowly worker. And so it was that Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian came unstuck due to some all-too-familiar video-conferencing struggles.
We’ve all been there. Frantically clicking or shouting into a seemingly deaf computer, only to be helpfully told that you’re on mute while the meeting minutes inexorably tick on.
This happened to Kurian this week, with an audience on Google Meet that included several of the world’s technical press – including The Reg – keen to find out what AI wizardry was on the cards for Google Cloud Next.
As planned, the meeting kicked off on schedule. But Kurian was absent without leave. The minutes ticked past (and company representatives looked ever more frantic) until he overcame whatever technical hurdles had beset him, joining the video conference with the all-too-familiar words: “We’re just having some issues with mute…”
To this reporter, the exec looked a bit like the 1980s icon Max Headroom thanks to a besuited upper torso, and at one point made the very Freudian slip of mixing up “Agent” and “Person,” but he managed to go through the key announcements, and that’s what mattered.
You can check out our coverage here, here and here.
However, a Google executive who had difficulty getting into a meeting that was running on the company’s own conferencing platform highlights that everybody is human. Nobody is immune to the curse of Bork.
Oh, and in the spirit of Google Cloud Next, we asked the company’s AI chatbot, Gemini, for tips on preparing a Google Meet session. The bot responded: “Preparing for a Google Meet in 2026 involves more than just clicking a link; it’s about ensuring your tech, environment, and agenda are locked in so you don’t spend the first ten minutes saying, ‘Can you hear me now?'”
Sound advice, and we’re happy to pass it on. ®